Improvement in smoke and spark conductors for railroad trains



H. n. OHLSEIN.

Smoke and spark Conductors for Railroad Trains.

No. 134,159. Patented Dec.24,1872.

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/ Hem Nrrnn STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY D. OHLSEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT lN SMOKE AND SPARK CONDUCTORS FOR RAILROAD TRAINS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 134,159, dated December 24, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY Dre'rmcn OHLsEN, of Chicago, in the county of (look and State of Illinoisfhave invented a new and useful Improvement in Smoke and Cinder' Conductors for Railway Trains; and I do declare that the following is a true and accurate description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon and being a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 shows a railway train in side elevation with my improvement applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the smoke-conductor fitted to the top of a car; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the1 same, showing the wind-catch and closings 1 e.

Like letters refer to like parts in each figure.

This invention has for its object to provide locomotive-engines and railway trains with a device for conducting the smoke and cinders from the smoke-stack 0f the engine to the rear end of the train before discharging them,

thereby diminishing the danger from fire not only to the cars, but to fences along the line and adjacent structures and piles of fuel, and also rendering travel in such trains much more pleasant to the traveler. The invention consists in securing on top of each car a metallic tube or conductor, which is connected to a similar tube on the next car in the train by a flexible connection, and provided with two wind-catches opening in opposite direc tions, and provided with valvesfor closing either of them at will. A horizontal pipe connects the top of the smoke-stack with the front end of the conductor of the nearest car. The elbow, which connects the conductor to the smoke-stack is also provided with awindcatch, all arranged and operating as more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawing, A represents sections of metallic flues or conductors, one of which is secured by suitable frame-supports to the top of each car. A similar flue is in like manner secured above. the tender, as at A and in like manner another, A, above the locomotive, to the top of whose smoke-stack it is connected by a segmental elbow, a. The sec tions A A A are connected together by a flexible and collapsible coupling, b, of leather,

rubber, or any other suitable material, which will preserve the connection in the spreading apart and crowding together of the cars in the train, and which will afford a continuous fine from the smoke-stack to the rear end of the train. At the exterior angle of the elbow inclosing or being placed over an opening in the top of the flue-section. Each opening may be closed by a valve, 0, sliding in guides c. The outer end of each sliding valve has a bar, d, pivoted to it, which bar is slotted at its outer extremity, and when the valve is opened it is dropped over a stud, e, on top of the flue, to keep the valve open, as seen at the right-hand end of Fig. 2. WVlien the valve is closed it is kept so by dropping the slot of the bar over a stud, e, on top of the wind-catch, as seen at the left of said figure.

The purpose of the wind-catches B is to divert a column of air into the interior of the flue, where it acts as an accelerator to the current created by the blast of the engine exhaust, and also to carry out any cinders which might otherwise accumulate therein.

In trains of average length these cinders will have become quenched before being discharged at the rear end of the train.

The flexible couplings may be secured to the flue sections by straps, as shown, or in any convenient manner.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The conductor described, consisting of the tube-sections A A A united by the couplings b, and provided with the elbow (1, having the cap B and caps B B with valve 0, all constructed and arranged as shown and described, for the purpose set forth.

HENRY DIETRIOH OHLSEN.

Witnesses WM. H. Lorz, A. W. OBERMANN. 

